Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” that if Senate lawmakers pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the government from shutting down then Congress will be able to “work again.”
Federal employees are bracing for a government shutdown, as the Senate has yet to approve a House-passed continuing resolution as of Tuesday evening. Fox’s Laura Ingraham asked Johnson what would happen if Republicans “win” the “shutdown war” and the government is funded until Nov. 21. (RELATED: Senate Republicans Confident Voters Will Blame Democrats For Imminent Government Shutdown)
“Right, it’s a very important period of time that will allow the appropriators in both parties — the spenders of our money — to do their job. They got 12 separate appropriations bills done through the committee in the House. The Senate’s working through them as well,” Johnson said.
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“We just need more time to process it through both chambers,” Johnson added. “So if we have until November 21, we are very optimistic. Laura, we can get Congress to work again. We can do separate appropriations bills instead of that omnibus monster at the end of the year that everybody hates.”
On Sept. 19, House Republicans approved a seven-week funding measure with a 217 to 212 vote, as all but one Democrat voted against the GOP to keep the government open. Following the approval, the measure headed to the Senate, with tensions between Democrats and Republicans rising.
Some House Democrats warned Senate colleagues about the potential ramifications that a government shutdown could have on the party. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has demanded Republicans agree to their policy concessions in order to keep the government open.
As of Tuesday evening, the Senate rejected dueling spending stopgap bills, including the House-passed continuing resolution, according to Politico.
In a post on X, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that while Democrats have chosen to shut down the government, it could be “reopened” on Wednesday if a handful of Democrats join Republicans in passing the measure.
The shutdown is expected to begin Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. if the Senate does not approve the measure.
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